Monday, January 03, 2005

Blogging and journalism

And here is Steve Outing's other article, What bloggers can learn from journalists, matching the one I blogged earlier. Exellent advice - if you want to write like a journalist. If your plan for your blog is to work as and write as (and essentially become) a journalist but independently and through your own blog, then you should definitely learn the craft.

If you want to do something else: create a story, share your emotions, create a resource for links on a topic, share pictures and stories from your journeys, then by all means, do it your own way!

Just remember one thing though: This is online, it's public, if you get over-emotional and attack in a way that can be understood as slander, take Outing's advice and ask somebody before you post. Check if you say something you can be sued for. Even Norway, with the liberal practice of publishing, has laws on slander, and you may end up paying far more than you can afford.

So play nice, even if you don't need to play by the rules of the journalists unless you want to be one.

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